


Breathe

by Selah



Series: The Long Chain Cycle [6]
Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, LM.C
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-07 22:22:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6827596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selah/pseuds/Selah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Changmin wasn't a little kid anymore, so why did his bandmates all insist on treating him like one?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> While making revisions to the series to get it ready for posting to the Archive, I realized there was no reason not to go ahead and make some attempt at filling in some of the gaps that, for reasons of making fills for the original challenge, had been skipped the first time around. This fic is one of those.  
> [And yes, the legal age of majority in Japan is 20, which Changmin wasn't yet at the time of this fic.]

Free time of any sort was such a rare thing in their lives anymore, Changmin almost didn't know what to do with himself. They had only been in Tokyo for a little over a week, and after a morning filled with one technical issue after another, everyone had agreed it would be better to give up rather than waste any more valuable time. The others had tried to get him to stay with them for lunch, but in all honesty, he was glad he had chosen to strike out on his own. Even if it meant he was currently lost. He was still in a commercial district, so he couldn't be _that_ lost. He'd just pick out a place to eat and then ask for directions back to the subway.

He was just sitting down with a bowl of ramen when a voice caught him quite by surprise.

“Min-kun?”

Changmin wasn't sure if he shouldn't have been surprised to see Maya or not. They had exchanged a few text messages since the party, but his own schedule had been so busy he hadn't been able to arrange for anything else. And now he was feeling guilty for that.

“I thought that was you,” the blond said, grinning as he sat down across from him. “You pop idols and your crazy busy schedules. What did you do, escape?”

“Eh? Oh, um, no, nothing like that,” he said, feeling embarrassment heat his cheeks. “They let us loose early, so I thought I'd do a little exploring on my own.”

“Well, you picked a great place for lunch,” Maya said, snapping a pair of chopsticks as a bowl of spicy ramen was brought to him. “Anywhere in particular or just aimless wandering?”

“I wasn't expecting to have the afternoon free, so I don't have anything planned. And I don't know this area, so I just thought I'd wander around and see what I find,” he admitted with a loose shrug.

“Well then, you should definitely let me show you around instead,” Maya said with a sharp nod. “I know all the best places for eating, shopping, gaming, wandering, people watching, meditating ... you name it~”

“Got the eating covered, for now anyway,” he said, grinning and slurping up some more noodles. Maya laughed easily and the knot of guilt in Changmin's stomach dissolved. An afternoon getting to know his new friend better? Sounded like just what he needed.

~*~*~

A soft groan escaped as his back hit the wall, but it wasn't actually a complaint, even if he wasn't quite sure how they had come to this. Soft lips pressed to his and he groaned again, one hand sliding up into Maya's hair to keep the other man close.

“Guess I'm not the only one who's been wanting to do that for awhile,” Maya purred when their kiss broke and Changmin felt himself blushing hotly at those words. It wasn't like it had been a conscious thing on his part, at least he was pretty sure it hadn't, but now that it had happened, he couldn't deny that Maya was attractive.

“Guess not,” he confessed, sliding his hand down Maya's spine to rest in the small of his back, pulling him closer. “Is that a problem?”

“Not for me,” Maya replied, grinning playfully. “But was it really so necessary for you to grow so tall?”

“You don't have to make it sound like something I did just to spite you,” Changmin said, frowning in spite of the grin on his friend's face. It wasn't his fault, not like he'd had any say or control in how tall he grew.

“Oh shush,” Maya teased, pulling him down into another kiss for a moment. “I actually like my men tall. Anyway, dinner first, and if you're a good boy, _then_ you can have dessert~”

“I thought the whole point of being an adult was you got to do what you liked. Like having dessert first,” Changmin said, unable to contain a slight pout. And feeling more than a little ridiculous for it.

“Oh, did you magically turn twenty behind my back~?” Maya teased, tugging a bit of hair before stepping away from him.

“Huh? What, no, but....”

“Not twenty, not an adult, those are the rules,” the blond trilled as he ducked into his tiny kitchen.

“What?! Oh come on, that's not fair!” Changmin protested, planting himself in the arch between the kitchen and the rest of the apartment. “If I'm old enough to ... to have dessert then I'm old enough to decide when and where, too!”

Maya laughed again, turning and leaning against his counter. “If you can't even say the word, then you're not that adult yet. Trust me, Min-chan, there's nothing sexy about a growling stomach in the middle of dessert,” he said, winking at him playfully. “Now be a good boy and help me make dinner or you're sleeping on the couch again!”

Changmin huffed but relented, starting with the rice cooker. That much he could do even without knowing what Maya was planning to make for dinner, all the while sneaking sidelong glances at his host as the other man pulled things from his freezer.

“Ok, that's cheating,” Changmin said, lips twitching as he recognized the box of a frozen stir fry meal.

“Eh? What are you talking about??”

“That's not cooking!” he said, pointing at the box. “That's reheating someone else's work!”

“It's cooking!” Maya protested, shaking one of the bags of ingredients at him. “See? It's all raw in here, just pre-measured with pre-mixed sauce!”

“Cheating!” he insisted, though he couldn't contain a soft laugh. “Rice is set so I'll just get out of your hair, yeah?”

“Yeah. Oh, start us some water for tea, no beer for you!” Maya said, joining him in laughter.

“Fine with me, I hate beer,” he said as he filled the kettle.

“Further proof you aren't an adult yet,” his friend teased. Changmin rolled his eyes but didn't bother arguing, instead settling himself on Maya's couch. This made the fourth time in a little over two weeks that Maya had brought him home for dinner, which had to count as some sort of miracle. He was pretty sure his bandmates were all assuming he was slipping out to meet with a local girl and he was fine with letting them continue to think that, at least for now. At some point it would have to change, but as long as he made it back to the apartment before management came for them in the mornings he didn't feel a need to rush things. Telling them would just make them all fuss and insist on meeting Maya. For better or worse, Changmin wasn't ready to share his strange friend with his irritating bandmates, not just yet anyway. It was nice, having someone all to himself for a change.

~*~*~

Changmin groaned, rolling over to blink blearily at the ceiling, trying to figure out why he was awake. Oh yeah, his phone was making that sound again. Frowning, he tried to remember what he had done with it, since the ringtone sounded like it was somehow coming from everywhere at once. 

“Ugh, ok, new rule, you come over, you turn off your ringer when you get here,” his rumpled bedmate muttered from beside him.

“And get in even more trouble with Umma when he can't reach me? Yeah, no, I'll pass,” Changmin countered, though he couldn't help a small smile at Maya's continued annoyed grumbling. He didn't really blame the man, they'd been up late again and even when they had gone to bed, they hadn't done a whole lot of sleeping. Or at least he didn't think they had; without his phone he wasn't even sure what time it was.

He found his pants tossed carelessly over the back of the couch, surprised that his phone was still in the pocket with his keys. Grateful for little blessings of fate, he answered the call with a tired yawn.

_“Shim Changmin, where the fucking hell are you?? I've been calling you for the last hour! In case you forgot, the agreement was that you'd always be back here before Manager-sshi came to pick us up. Which was supposed to be ten minutes ago. Lucky for you, he's running late, but I swear to god, if you aren't walking into our building right fucking now....”_

Changmin swore under his breath, glancing at his wrist for a watch that wasn't there. How could they possibly have slept that late? Unless the schedule had changed behind his back? The soft curse in the bedroom followed by a heavy thump and more cursing had him wondering.

_“So not just running a little behind. What the fuck, Min?”_

“I don't know why the alarm didn't work. Look, I'm in Chiyoda already, can't you, I dunno, tell everybody I got antsy and went in early?”

_“No one's going to buy that, you dumbass, that's why we agreed you'd always come back here first,”_ Jaejoong muttered. 

“Maybe we should tell the truth? I mean, Security probably ought to know where I am all the time anyway, right?”

_“Do you even hear yourself speaking right now? Are you out of your mind?? Do you know what they'll do to you if they find out you've been sneaking out??”_

“Well I don't know what you want me to do,” he grumbled. “It's not like I can apparate back to the apartment, Umma. Either we admit I stayed out or we tell them I went in early. I'm not seeing any other options here.”

He could hear Jaejoong grumbling on the other end of the line, probably trying to come up with some sort of third option. Never mind that the longer they wasted time arguing like this, the more likely they were to get caught without any sort of explanation ready at all.

_“Fine, I'll deal with things here, you just be sure to get your ass to our studio before we do. I'll text you when we leave the apartment.”_

“Yes, Umma,” he said, though he wasn't sure the older dancer hadn't already hung up on him before he could speak.

“So on a scale of one to anally raped without lube, how screwed are you?” Maya asked, pushing a mug of what had to be instant coffee into his hands. “My phone died overnight, no idea how that happened, sorry. I should've set the clock alarm, too.”

“No, it's my schedule, I should've made sure I had my phone alarm set and with me, too,” Changmin said, shaking his head. “Umma said he'd handle it, I just have to be at the studio before them, which shouldn't be too hard. And, um, probably in a different shirt at least.”

“Yeah, I think we can manage that. Go wash up, I'll find you a shirt.”

“Thanks, Maya. Sorry for being such a burden.”

“Hey, it's not a problem, Minnie, and if they yell too hard, just let me know, okay?” the blond said, leaning up to brush a kiss to Changmin's cheek. He smiled but didn't say anything; he appreciated the sentiment too much to spoil it by telling Maya he didn't think anything the blond might say in his defense could make things any better.

~*~*~

Changmin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the night wash over him. They had all been given a lecture about slipping security while in Japan that afternoon, and while no names were named, he couldn't help feeling like it was his fault. Even if they were probably right, that it was dangerous for them to be doing such things so casually.

“It's not just you.”

Changmin couldn't help but startle, both at Jaejoong's words and at the sudden presence of his arms sliding around his waist. And immediately felt silly for it. Jaejoong was his closest friend, his one confidant, it was ridiculous to be startled by him, especially out on the balcony of their shared apartment.

“What?”

“It's not just you. Sneaking out at night. The only one who hasn't yet is Yunnie and you know what he's like.”

“Never met a rule worth breaking,” Changmin agreed with a soft hum, hugging the arms tucked around him. It wasn't even that cold and yet he welcomed the other man's warmth. The comfort of his closeness. 

“You shouldn't say it like that, Minnie,” the elder scolded softly. “You of all people should know better than to think it's so simple.”

He wasn't sure what made Jaejoong say that; in his mind, the one who knew Yunho best was Jaejoong. Some days, Changmin felt like he didn't understand their leader at all.

“How are things with you and ... Maya-sshi, was it?” Jaejoong asked after a lingering moment of stillness.

“It's fine. He's... you know, been pretty busy, but so have we, so it's fine. It's, you know, keeping things casual,” he said, managing a seemingly blase shrug even with the older man wrapped around him. He and Maya were just friends who occasionally slept together because they were also two guys who needed an outlet for pent up sexual feelings and it was better to do that sort of thing with someone who was a friend over someone who was a stranger, right? 

“And you're being careful, right?”

“Yes, Umma, I'm being careful,” he said, rolling his eyes. Ok, sure, sneaking out the way he had been was a bit reckless, but even then he did his best to be careful, always going out in disguise. If he had to start taking security with him any time he went anywhere, that was going to suck, but maybe they weren't actually there yet?

“Think they're going to insist on us taking a security escort with us any time we go anywhere, even in our off time?” he asked softly, a little afraid of the answer.

“I talked to our chief and he says as long as we text him personally any time we leave, he's okay with one or two of us going out without an escort, especially if it's for something like Yoochun's secret girlfriend or you and Maya-sshi. Not that I told him about Maya-sshi, just, well, with what he was saying, I'm sure if you talked to him, he'd be okay with it. I told him I would talk to you and have you talk to him, so....”

“Ok, ok, I'll talk to him tomorrow,” he said, making a mental note to see him either before rehearsals or during their lunch break. He didn't know what he was going to tell him about his covert adventures, but he would think of something. He always did.

~*~*~

“Oh, um, hey Min-kun. Wow. Okay. This is awkward.”

Changmin felt something clench in his gut and he didn't know what was happening, but the look on Maya's face told him plenty. And he didn't like it.

“Guess I should've called first, huh?” he said, forcing himself to sound light, to make it into a joke.

“Yeah, um....”

“Don't worry about it,” he said, forcing a smile. “Text me later, okay?”

“I will, definitely, promise.”

Changmin walked away at a completely normal, moderate pace. He wasn't going to run, it wasn't his style.


End file.
